Ryan Reynolds has revealed that he tried to recruit Nicolas Cage to reprise his role as Ghost Rider for a cameo in the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine movie. In a recent Entertainment Weekly podcast interview on November 7, Reynolds shared that early drafts of the film included several surprise cameos, including Cage as Ghost Rider and Ben Affleck as Daredevil.
Marvel Studios visual development supervisor Rodney Fuentebella’s concept art, released after the movie’s July reveal, hinted at these potential cameos alongside other stars like Jennifer Garner, Chris Evans, and Wesley Snipes. However, as Reynolds noted, Cage ultimately declined the offer. “We did talk to Nic Cage. We tried to get him, but he was a no-go,” said Reynolds, who not only stars as Deadpool but also co-wrote and executive-produced the film. “I would’ve loved him.”
Balancing creative ambition with budget constraints was another hurdle. Reynolds explained, “It’s the biggest budget of any of the Deadpool movies, but you want to give yourself as much constraint, which really I think facilitates asymmetrical thinking and creativity. If you have too much time or too much money, it usually murders that kind of creativity. So, yeah, you’re shrinking things.”
Intended as a homage to the classic Marvel characters and films produced by Fox, Deadpool & Wolverine includes appearances from other notable characters. Chris Evans returns as Johnny Storm/Human Torch from Fantastic Four, Garner reprises Elektra from Daredevil, Snipes takes on Blade once more, and Dafne Keen returns as X-23 from Logan. Channing Tatum also gets his long-awaited debut as X-Men’s Gambit, a role he had once prepared to play in a scrapped spinoff project.
Halle Berry, who played Storm in the X-Men films, expressed interest in reprising her role, but she says Reynolds never reached out directly. Instead, Berry recalls Reynolds’ wife, Blake Lively, asking her once at a fashion show if she’d be open to appearing. “I said, ‘Yeah, if he asked me,’ but he never asked me,” Berry said. Lively herself makes a cameo in the film.
Fans can also expect other surprise appearances, including Henry Cavill as an alternative Wolverine and even Reynolds and Lively’s children, Inez and Olin, in the roles of Kidpool and Babypool.
